93 families of children with leukemia and meningitis have been seen as part of the Coping Project, a five-year longitudinal study. Objectives are: to obtain multi-source and multi-method data on the coping behaviors of family members; 2) to determine the relationship of coping and variables thought to be related to healthy coping; and 3) to test the effectiveness of an intervention strategy that is intended to help families maximize their coping resources and deal effectively with the illness and its implications. Families were assigned randomly to one of three groups: 1) total intervention; 2) moderate intervention; or 3) no coping project intervention. A series of clinical interviews has been conducted with the family: at diagnosis, during hospitalization, at home visits, in the outpatient phase, final assessments. Families are also asked to complete a number of scales, including the CPI, the Current Adjustment Rating Scale, the Missouri Children's Picture Series. Tapes of the interviews are rated by psychosocial staff using the Hurwitz, Kaplan & Kaiser scale, which has been adapted for use in this setting, and the Borgatta Interaction Process Analysis. Physicians and nurses also complete ratings of the families, based on the Coping scale and the Mood & Behavior scale. Systematic observations of behavior during the inpatient stays and in the clinic have been done, using time-sampling of child and adult behavior. The current year, which is the fifth and last year of the project, will be spent in compiling the data, analyzing them, and in presenting the results.